


Midnight

by enjcltaire



Category: Murder Most Unladylike Series - Robin Stevens
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Daisy isn't that awful in this, Fluff and Angst, Hazel is a smol bean, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 19:05:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13324563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enjcltaire/pseuds/enjcltaire
Summary: Hazel is having bad dreams, and wakes up in the middle of the night. Daisy sees her by the window, and decides to talk to her.





	Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second fic from this fandom! Thank you for the kudos on my last fic, it means a lot. I've literally just finished writing this and my proofread was super brief, so if there are any mistakes please let me know. I absolutely love writing these two and I'm glad I can contribute to this lil fandom. Super excited to read A Spoonful of Murder, which is coming out on the 8th Feb in the UK :D

Hazel bolted upright in her bed in her dorm at Deepdean. It took her a moment to work out where she was. Lifting a hand to her head, she pushed up her fringe, which was sticky with sweat, and breathed out slowly. She had just woken up from a particularly bad dream. She got them fairly frequently, at least once a week, and most of them consisted of her reliving the experiences she’d had in her first term at Deepdean. In this one, she had been trapped in that horrible box that Daisy had coerced her into, but it seemed so much darker and hot and claustrophobic.

Used to frequently waking in the middle of the night, Hazel climbed out of bed and did what she always did. She was careful not to trip over anything on the floor and as a consequence wake up Lavinia (who would be angry, although that was seemingly her natural state), Kitty (who would probably throw a pillow at her and go back to sleep), Beanie (who wouldn’t mind), or worst of all, Daisy. Hazel looked at Daisy, sleeping in her bed, and bit her lip. She definitely didn’t want to wake Daisy. Her cheeks warmed at the thought, but she dismissed it as an after-effect of her nightmare, and opened the window.

The night was a particularly cold one. It was the start of December, and in a few weeks most of the girls would be going home for the Christmas holidays. Hazel would stay, as usual. Although she had been at Deepdean for quite a while now, she always felt particularly lonely at Christmas, when she was left alone at school with just a handful of girls whose parents couldn’t take them home. And even then, she felt more like an outsider as ever, because the rumours about why her father couldn’t take her home got worse every year. She hated it. They didn’t matter to her; she was more worried about what Daisy would think when she returned in January and people refused to look at her in the corridor because she was with Hazel. Even though Daisy promised she didn’t care, because they were best friends and that was that, Hazel worried quietly. She worried a lot, particularly about Daisy.

It was very dark. She hadn’t even checked the clock, but Hazel guessed it was around midnight. It felt like barely any time had passed since she had curled up in bed at nine, hoping and praying for a peaceful sleep, but at the same time it felt like years. There was a light breeze, and it cooled her warm face. She leaned onto the ledge with an elbow, and began to draw patterns in the condensation on the window absent mindedly. She was so lost in her thoughts, wondering at that particular moment when she should send her Christmas presents to Hong Kong, that she barely noticed the creak of bedsprings behind her.

Daisy sat up, rubbing her eyes. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dark room, but when they did she saw the dark outline at the window. She knew who it was without even looking properly. She had never mentioned it to Hazel – she didn’t want her to be upset – but on a few occasions Daisy had been woken up by her best friend getting up to sit by the window in the night. It had been bothering her for a while. She knew Hazel wasn’t happy, and she’d seemed increasingly unsettled these past couple of weeks. Looking at the figure of her best friend sat by the window, she made a decision. A true best friend would ask what was wrong. Daisy took a deep breath and climbed out of bed. Although she didn’t show it often, this kind of interaction was her weakness. Her fear. What if she said something wrong? What if she upset Hazel? She couldn’t stand that. But no, she couldn’t handle one more night pretending to be asleep while she listened to the shallow, anxious breaths of her best friend. This was right.

Hazel’s train of thought was broken as she heard footsteps on the floorboards behind her. She spun round, conscious that she had been crying slightly, and hoping that whoever it was wouldn’t notice the glint of tears on her cheeks in the moonlight. As the person moved into the light, her heart sank as she saw it was Daisy.

“Evening, Hazel,” Daisy said quietly, stomach churning with nerves. Hazel looked at the floor guiltily, eager to hide her face. “Oh, Daisy...did I wake you?” she replied softly, not meeting her friend’s eyes.

Daisy shook her head. She estimated that saying yes would cause upset. “No, you didn’t. But I saw you when I woke up. Are you...are you okay?” Hazel’s cheeks burned, and still she refused to lift her head. “I’m...I’m fine,” she answered, trying to sound as convincing as possible. If she could avoid dragging Daisy into her ridiculous problems, even if that meant deflecting her responses, she would do it.

They were silent for a moment. Daisy decided not to press her, and instead walked to stand next to Hazel by the window. Her face was lit dimly and her eyes shone in the light. The patterns Hazel had drawn in the condensation reflected onto the tall blonde girl, making her look like an oddly ethereal, not quite human being. Hazel gazed at her, unable to stop. She looked so perfect.

“It’s a beautiful night,” Daisy whispered. Hazel smiled slightly and nodded, casting her eyes over the array of stars that were bright in the black sky, forming visible constellations. “Yes, it is.”

Suddenly Daisy turned to face Hazel directly, and Hazel could no longer ignore her gaze. She lifted her gaze to meet her friend’s. “Hazel, I’ve seen you do this before,” Daisy began, heart racing. “Sometimes I wake up and I see you sitting there alone by the window, and crying, and...Hazel, I’m worried,” she finished lamely, unsure of what else to say, feeling her hands shake slightly.

Tears formed in Hazel’s eyes again, threatening to spill down her cheeks, but she forced them back. Daisy shouldn’t have to deal with this. None of it was her fault. “I’m fine,” Hazel said as confidently as she could, but her voice cracked and her defences were down. She sank to the floor, crying, and refusing to look at Daisy. She was so ashamed. What had she done? She was weak and pathetic, and had made the one girl who had shown her any kindness at Deepdean hate her forever. Hazel didn’t say anything, just cried until the arms of her nightclothes were soaking wet, and her sadness dripped into the carpet.

Daisy swallowed. Instinctively, she dropped to the floor beside Hazel and wrapped her arms around the sobbing girl without even thinking. Her heart was pounding and her hands were shaking, but she was overcome with the feeling of safety as she held Hazel. “Shhh,” she whispered. “It’s all right, Hazel, come on. It’s going to be fine.”

They must have been sitting curled up on the carpet together for a while, although neither girl realised it, because when Hazel had finally run out of tears, she sat up and the sun was rising outside, staining the sky and its fading stars shades of pink, orange and red. They were silent, and content. As they fell out of consciousness right there by the window, their hands were pressed together, and Daisy was holding Hazel, and although Hazel was sad, and Daisy was scared, for this night and morning, everything was fine. And each girl slept thinking of the other as not a best friend, but as something more, something neither of them understood, let alone dared to name, but something that felt like home, and that was the most important thing.


End file.
